The alveolar immune cell landscape is dysregulated in checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis

• Text
• PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND Checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP) is a highly morbid complication of immune checkpoint immunotherapy (ICI), one which precludes the continuation of ICI. Yet, the mechanistic underpinnings of CIP are unknown.METHODS To better understand the mechanism of lung injury in CIP, we prospectively collected bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples in ICI-treated patients with (n = 12) and without CIP (n = 6), prior to initiating first-line therapy for CIP (high-dose corticosteroids). We analyzed BAL immune cell populations using a combination of traditional multicolor flow cytometry gating, unsupervised clustering analysis, and BAL supernatant cytokine measurements.RESULTS We found increased BAL lymphocytosis, predominantly CD4+ T cells, in patients with CIP. Specifically, we observed increased numbers of BAL central memory T cells, evidence of type I polarization, and decreased expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated protein 4 and programmed cell death protein 1 in BAL Tregs, suggesting both activation of proinflammatory subsets and an attenuated suppressive phenotype. CIP BAL myeloid immune populations displayed enhanced expression of IL-1β and decreased expression of counterregulatory interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. We observed increased levels of T-cell chemoattractants in the BAL supernatant, consistent with our proinflammatory, lymphocytic cellular landscape.CONCLUSION We observe several immune cell subpopulations that are dysregulated in CIP, which may represent possible targets that could lead to therapeutics for this morbid immune-related adverse event.FUNDING NIH, Department of Defense, and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Authors

Karthik Suresh, Jarushka Naidoo, Qiong Zhong, Ye Xiong, Jennifer Mammen, Marcia Villegas de Flores, Laura Cappelli, Aanika Balaji, Tsvi Palmer, Patrick M. Forde, Valsamo Anagnostou, David S. Ettinger, Kristen A. Marrone, Ronan J. Kelly, Christine L. Hann, Benjamin Levy, Josephine L. Feliciano, Cheng-Ting Lin, David Feller-Kopman, Andrew D. Lerner, Hans Lee, Majid Shafiq, Lonny Yarmus, Evan J. Lipson, Mark Soloski, Julie R. Brahmer, Sonye K. Danoff, Franco D’Alessio